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This Day in Buffalo Sports History: CFL vs. AFL

August 8, 1961 -- For those seeking the oddest game in the history of the Buffalo Bills, this day featured the leading candidate -- in preseason, no less.

It was the day that the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League played the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. It was the only meeting in history between teams from the two leagues.

The contest took place in Hamilton's Civic Stadium (changed to Ivor Wynne Stadium in 1971) before a crowd of 12,000 curious fans. The game mostly was played under CFL rules and was won by the Tiger-Cats, 38-21.

Richie Lucas and Johnny Green both threw touchdown passes for the Bills, while Art Baker had a three-yard touchdown run. Elbert Dubenion also reportedly looked good for Buffalo.

Three different quarterbacks threw touchdown passes for Hamilton, including Bernie Faloney's two TD throws. Yes, the Tiger-Cats even scored a rouge, or single, on a missed field goal attempt.

Buffalo went on to a 6-8 record in 1961, last in the AFL East. Hamilton made it to the Grey Cup game, but lost in overtime to Winnipeg in the first such CFL title game to need extra minutes to reach a conclusion.

--- Budd Bailey

Budd Bailey – Budd Bailey is a retired reporter and editor from The Buffalo News. He has served in a variety of roles in Buffalo sports in the past 40 years, including reporter, talk-show host, baseball announcer, and public relations staffer. Budd has had nine books published.